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JESSE E. PEYTON, HADDONFIELD, NEW JERSEY. 



Reminiscences of the Past 



BV 



COLONEL JESSE E. PEYTON 




t-1 Of C9/I, 



f^^ 






PHILADELPHIA 

PRINTED BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 
1895 



Copyright, 1895, 

BY 

Jesse E. Peyton. 






WITH KINDLY REMEMBRANCES OF THE PAST, 



THIS VOLXJNIE 



IS RESPECTFULLY 



^^(Uati^tl 



TO HIS F" R I E N D S 



THE AUTHOR. 



Philadelphia, May 26, 1895. 
Colonel J. E. Peyton, Haddonfield, New Jersey : 

Dear Sir, — The undersigned, your friends of long standing, being 
somewhat famiUar with your connection with pubhc events, which have 
resuhed creditably to all, and calling attention to the past, know the fact 
that our City of Brotherly Love, through names and events, is truly the 
historic city of the New World. We think that you can collect material 
through reflection, the results of the past, that will be read with interest by 
those generations that take our place when we leave. We will gladly 
serve you in any way that we can to accomplish the object and purpose. 

Yours very truly, 



B. B. Comegvs, 
Geo. Philler, 
W. H. Rhawx, 
Alex. P. Colesberrv, 
J. Simpson Africa, 
Samuel Bell, 
James M. Beck, 
Frank McLaughlin, 
Edw. Shippen, 
Chas. Emory Smith, 
M. Richards Mucklic, 
Hampton L. Carson, 
Persifor Frazer, 
Thomas M. Thompson, 
Thomas Shaw, 
Edward F. Kingslev, 
Jno. Wanamaker, 

F. B. Vogel, 
William Potter, 
Theo. E. Wiedersheim, 
Jay Cooke, 

W. J. Sewell, 
RoBT. E. Pattison, 
Effingham B. Morris, 

G. W. Boyd, 
Edw. S. Stuart, 
John W. Woodside, 
William B. Mann, 
Clayton McMichael, 
Andrew Wheeler, 
Chas. H. Heustis, 
John Lucas, 



Joseph M. Rogers, 
William Perrine, 
Geo. G. Pier IE, 
Lincoln Godfrey, 
J. R. McAllister, 
J. R. Altemus, 
J. W. McAllister, 
J. Levering Jones, 
Philemon P. Bowles, 
A. K. McClure, 
William M. Singerly, 
j. d. sovern, 
William J. Latta, 
f. gutekunst, 
Jno. Russell Young, 
Edwin N. Benson, 
Chas. F. Warwick, 
Francis M. Brooke, 

J. H. MiCHENER, 

Seth Caldwell, Jr., 
Lincoln K. Passmore, 
Jno. Lowber Welsh, 
Aug. Heaton, 
Oliver Landreth, 
Barclay H. Warburton, 
J. M. Butler, 
Thos. H. Montgomery, 
Jno. M. Walton, 
Saml. R. Shipley, 
Chas. B. Collier, 
W^ E. Littleton. 



Gentlemen : 

In reply to your esteemed favor of the 26th ult., it affords me much 
pleasure to comply with your request. The events referred to in your 
communication ought, I think, to be placed on record for coming- genera- 
tions. They would be read with interest. The narrative, whilst marked 
with feelings of sadness, stands as a result without regret. The frecjuent 
assembling of the people in social intercourse makes us a united, peace- 
ful, and fraternally happy and prosperous people, and also makes us 
known as a nation to other nations of the globe. 

In concluding, I will introduce a fact that came to me through tradi- 
tion and history which connects the great name of Henry Clay with the 
inherent and inalienable rights of the human family. May it so continue 
to be associated to the end of time. 

With grateful regards and pleasant memories of the past, I am, 

Very sincerely and truly yours, 

J. E. PEYTON. 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 



TN the year 1637, owing to the frightful condition of affairs in 
England due to the t\'ranny of the government and the 
immorality, fanaticism, and religious zeal of the people, many 
of its best citizens, with their families, left the country. Some 
went to Holland and many came to America. In the early 
part of that year a large party was organized, and ships were 
chartered to take it to America. Among the prominent mem- 
bers of this company were Oliver Cromwell, Pym, Haselrig, 
and Hampden, and several bearing the name of Peyton, On 
the 1st day of May, 1637, before the time fixed for their 
departure, an ordinance was passed prohibiting emigration. 
Being thus prohibited from going to the New World to wor- 
ship God according to the dictates of their conscience, they 
determined to secure that right in the land of their birth. The 
question was quietly discussed and considered, but it was some 
time before it was fully comprehended and concurred in by the 
people of England, and they were ready to join in the attempt to 
secure it. Oliver Cromwell became the leader in this movement. 
History has never given a correct idea of the character of 
Oliver Cromwell. He was a devoted husband, a kind and 
affectionate father. His neighbors were warmly attached to 
him. He was honest, with a strong will, the courage of a lion, 
and generous to the poor, and especially to the afflicted. He 
was not a man of impulse, but of reflection ; he never under- 
took that which he deemed important without first appealing 
to the Supreme Power. Sir Edward Peyton, Baronet of Isle- 
ham, and his family were among his devoted friends and sup- 
porters, and on this account they lost their property and title, 
which, however, were subsequently restored to them. In his 
sketch of the disasters of the Stuart family, Peyton looked 

9 



IQ REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 

upon Cromwell as the second Moses, comparing- his leading- 
the Saxons out of monarchical tyranny, immorality, and fanati- 
cism, with the leading^ of the Jews out of Egypt. Cromwell's 
views as to the rights of humanity were brought to this coun- 
try by the Puritans and sown on good soil, as they now lie at 
the base of our government. These principles have stood the 
test of more than one hundred years, the one hundredth anni- 
xersary of their adoption having been recently celebrated by 
our people, participated in by many of the nations of the world. 
Cromwell believed the rights of the human family were equal, 
inherent, inalienable, and were the gift of their Creator; that 
governments should be of the people, by the people, and for 
the people. These great sentiments were secured through in- 
telligence, courage, and the aid of Providence. He was forced 
to take charge of what he had secured at the repeated risk of 
life. He was called a Dictator. So he was. He dictated integ- 
rity, morality, industry, intelligently and properly applied. His 
brief term of sovereignty was a dawn of light to Great Britain, 
which, through its sister lights of the new world, is illumi- 
nating the Globe and will continue to do so. Virginia's day at 
the Centennial was second to Pennsylvania's in the number of 
attendants. Massachusetts was represented by many of the 
descendants of Puritan families. A good many descendants 
of the early settlers of Virginia were present on Massachusetts 
Day Their ancestors belonged to Cromwell's army. They 
could not fail to join each other on such an occasion. The old 
families of Virginia and Massachusetts look upon themselves as 
the Jews do, — they think they are descendants of a chosen people. 
During the struggle in which the right of the people to 
worship God in their own way was secured, the Peyton family 
always remained true to their Christian sentiments, and never 
forgot the rights of their fellow-men. About 1660 they came 
to America, landing at Jamestown, Virginia, and settled in 
Gloucester Count)- in that State, calling the place of their set- 
tlement, Isleham, the name of their old English home. 




OLIVER CROMWELL. 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 



13 



After the Revolutionary War, my grandfather, WiUiam 
Peyton, moved to the western part of Virginia, which is now 
the State of Kentucky. After remaining there a year or two, 
he returned to Virfjinia, believing that civilization would never 
extend beyond the Blue Ridge. He returned to Kentucky, 
however, and settled upon a land-grant by the State of Vir- 
ginia, given him for his services during the war for indepen- 
dence. He died at the age of seventy-four. 

In 1 80 1, owing to the demoralized condition of the people, 
the subject of remedying the condition of affairs was taken up 
by my father and a {&\x Virginia friends. They conceived the 
idea of a great camp-meeting, by means of which they could 
bring together people from all parts of the State. Barton W. 
Stone, a Presbyterian clergyman, was visiting my family at the 
time the camp-meeting was suggested, and he consented to lay 
aside Presbyterianism (most of the people in that section of the 
country being Baptists) and conduct the meeting. It was held 
in August, 1 80 1, at a place called Cane Ridge, and lasted two 
weeks. The attendance ranged from twenty thousand to thirty 
thousand daily, over four thousand people being converted. 
The excitement was intense, many men and women being 
overcome with religious enthusiasm to such an extent that 
they fell to the ground speechless. It was looked upon as 
the second Pentecost. People came from Ohio, Tennessee, 
and North Carolina, and the roads in the vicinity of the camp 
were crowded with men, women, and children, with wagons, 
tents, food, and bedding. 

The meeting was ot incalculable benefit to the State. Log 
churches were erected all over the State, and societies were 
organized for the vigorous prosecution of church work ; and 
to-day there is no State in the Union where the people are 
more moral, and more strictly observant of the Sabbath, than 
the State of Kentucky. 

From this meeting went out what was called the " New Light 
Doctrine," subsequently called the " Campbellite Doctrine," and 



M 



■ REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 



now known as the " Christian Church," which is very popular 
through the South and West. President Garfield was a mem- 
ber of this Church, and John T. Johnson, a brother of Vice- 
President Richard M. Johnson, was one of its noted clergymen. 
I was born on the loth day of November, 1815, the year in 
which Jackson defeated Packenham at New Orleans, and Well- 
ington Napoleon at Waterloo. The eminent statesman Bismarck 
was born in the same year. The place of my birth was a 
small farm on the road leading from Maysville, on the Ohio 
River, to Lexington, Kentucky, being about half-way between 
these towns. It was the resting-place of immigrants coming in 
from Virginia to settle Kentucky, and was also the stopping- 
place of the Revolutionary soldiers who had settled along the 
Ohio River as they went to Lexington each year to draw their 
pensions. I often listened to these soldiers and immigrants 
telling the incidents of their lives while sitting in front of an 
old-time wood-fire. My home, through its host and guest, 
is so impressively and correctly described in Goldsmith's 
" Deserted Village," that I take the liberty of quoting it. 

" Unskilful he to fawn, or seek for power, 
By doctrines fashioned to the varying hour ; 
Far other aims his heart had learn'd to prize, 
More bent to raise the wretch'd than to rise. 
His house was knt)wn to all the vagrant train, 
He chid their wanderings, but relieved their pain ; 
The long remember'd beggar was his guest, 
Whose beard, descending, swept his aged breast; 
The ruin'd spendthrift, now no longer proud, 
Claim'd kindred there, and had his claims allowed ; 
The broken soldier, kindly bade to stay, 
Sate by his fire, and talk'd the night away ; 
Wept o'er his wounds, or, tales of sorrow done, 
Shoulder'd his crutch, and show'd how fields were won. 
Pleas'd with his guests, the good man learn'd to glow, 
And quite forgot their vices in their woe ; 
Careless their merits or their faults to scan, 
His pity gave ere charity began." 




CHRIST CHURCH. 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 



17 



My father, Stephen Peyton, was a faithful member of church, 
and was a farmer when farming did not amount to much, there 
being no market for produce. As may be imagined, I did not 
have much opportunity for schooHng, as schools were very 
few. The rifle took the place of the spelling-book and arith- 
metic. I was on the farm until I was about sixteen years of 
age. 

My first employment was in 1836, in a store kept by Rogers 
& Garrett, in Flat Rock, Bourbon County, Kentucky, at a salary 
of fifty dollars a year, and board. Mr. Rogers, a member of 
one of the most prominent families of Bourbon County, a grad- 
uate of Augusta College, Kentucky, became a very devoted 
friend, as were also the members of the Rogers and Lindsay 
families, two of the most prominent families in the county. 

On my coming to Philadelphia in 1841, Mr. Rogers gave 
me a letter of introduction to the late Hon. John Welsh, which 
I delivered to him on the 12th day of January, 1841, from 
which time we were'friends until his death; also a letter to 
Caleb Cope. 

Mr. Rogers tendered me a scholarship, with board and all 
expenses to be paid by him, at the Georgetown College, Ken- 
tucky, which I declined to accept. 

Alexander Campbell, who was at the head of his college in 
West Virginia, a friend of my father, tendered me a scholarship 
at his institution, which I also declined to accept. 

During the last year of my residence in Kentucky, I was in 
the employ of William P. Payne, and U. S. Grant, then of 
Georgetown, Ohio, brought Mr. Payne's niece over to visit 
Mr. Payne's family. During his stay he slept with me in the 
store, and assisted me in the morning in cleaning it up and 
putting it in order. About a year previous to his death, I met 
General Grant in the Fifth Avenue Hotel. I spoke to him, 
and asked him if he remembered me. "Yes," he replied,"! 
think you are Balie Peyton." I told him I was not, and asked 
him if he remembered going to Flat Rock with Mr. Payne's 



■J 8 REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 

niece, and sleeping with me in the store, and liclping to clean 
it the next morning. He said, " Certainly I do," and at once 
rose to his feet. It was the first time I ever saw him smile. 
He then told me that on his return from Flat Rock his horse 
had twice run away, and finally he had to tie his handkerchief 
over its eyes, and drive the rest of the way with the horse 
blindfolded. 

In 1840, when making a visit to Carlisle, the county seat of 
my native county, I met Senator John S. Morgan, representing 
Nicholas and Bourbon Counties in the State Senate. Not 
having seen me for some time, he asked where I was residing, 
and on being informed that I was residing at Flat Rock, and 
Avas still a constituent of his, he stated that he would come up 
to see me. It was then arranged that he would come up on 
the 6th day of June. On my return home, I got the people 
of the town interested, and we invited ex-Governor Metcalfe, 
of Nicholas County, ex-Governor Letcher, Leslie Combes, and 
Richard M. Manafee to be present: the three former accepted. 
We determined to have an old-fashioned barbecue, the farmers 
supplying the necessary articles. A log cabin was built, with 
the latch-string hanging out and a live coon chained to the 
roof As it was thought the meeting would not be complete 
without hard cider, we sent to Paris for six barrels of it, which 
arrived the night before the meeting. During the night three 
rollicking young Democrats, members of prominent families in 
the neighborhood, bought a barrel of whiskey, drew six gallons 
out of each barrel of cider, and replaced it with whiskey. 
Before the meeting began the cider was set out along the 
tables, with the heads of the barrels knocked out so that the 
people could freely drink it. In three hours after the dinner 
there was scarcely a sober person on the ground. Prominent 
church members were staggering around, throwing their hats 
in the air, and behaving most ludicrously. On Monday after 
the meeting, a man came to see me and threatened to thrash 
me for getting his father-in-law, who was a deacon in a church, 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. jg 

drunk. I was in entire ignorance as to who played this trick 
until about ten years ago, when one of the party told me who 
had perpetrated it. The event is still remembered in that part 
of Kentucky, and perhaps always will be. 

In the latter part of December, 1840, I visited Lexington, 
with a letter of introduction from Benjamin F. Rogers, my 
former employer, to Henry Bell, the most prominent merchant 
in that city. Mr. Bell was informed in this letter that it was my 
intention to come to Philadelphia to enter a wholesale store 
as a salesman. Mr. Bell very kindly wrote me two or three 
letters of introduction. Whilst he was doing so, Henry Clay, 
who was on very warm terms with him, came into the office. 
Mr, Bell told him that I was going to Philadelphia for the 
purpose of securing a position, and he was writing a {<t\v letters 
of introduction for me to friends of his in that city. Mr. Clay 
asked me if I thought a letter from him would be of any 
service, stating that he had a number of friends in that city. 
Mr. Bell remarked that I could not carry a letter from any one 
in Kentucky that would be of more service to me. Mr. Clay 
then wrote three letters, — one to Mayor Swift, one to Henry 
White, and one to William D. Lewis, then cashier of the 
Girard Bank, who was Mr. Clay's private secretary at the 
Treaty of Ghent. 

I came to Philadelphia, and was very kindl\- received by Mr. 
Lewis, who introduced me to Morton McMichael, Henry C. 
Carey, Louis Godey, Joseph R. Ingersoll, Joseph R. Chandler, 
and other prominent Philadelphians who were friends of Mr. 
Clay. The kindness and friendship of these gentlemen, which 
lasted during the balance of their lives, I can never forget. 

Ezekiel K. Hunn, a member of the firm of Hunn & Rem- 
ington, secured for me a position with J. W. Gibbs & Co., dry 
goods merchants on Fourth Street, near the Merchant's Hotel. 
The firm failed in a few months, and I secured a position with 
Wolfe & Boswell, who were also in the dry goods business, on 
Market Street. 



20 FEMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 

In 1842 I was in Lexington, Kentucky, on business, where 
I found one of the customers of the firm in financial difficulties. 
I called on Henry Bell for advice. He referred me to James 
B. Clay, a son of Henry Clay, who had just commenced the 
practice of the law in connection with his distinguished father. 
While talking to him, his father came in. As he seemed to be 
very much depressed, I asked James what the trouble was, and 
he informed me that his father was not in very good health, 
and was very much worried about his financial affairs ; that his 
father had endorsed notes for a man who had failed, and in 
order to meet the obligations he would have to part with 
" Ashland," his home. I asked him what the indebtedness 
would amount to, and he said between thirty and forty thou- 
sand dollars. I again called on Mr. Bell, and told him what 
James B. Clay had stated to me in reference to his father's 
embarrassments, and said that on my return to Philadelphia I 
would see some of Mr. Clay's friends, and endeavor to have 
arrangements made to relieve Mr. Clay. Mr. Bell informed 
me that Mr. Clay was of a very sensitive nature, and cautioned 
me to go about it in a very quiet manner. 

Upon my return to Philadelphia, I saw Mr. David S. Brown, 
who was a friend of Mr. Clay, and a prominent merchant, and 
told him that I thought the merchants and manufacturers of 
Philadelphia ought to see that Mr. Clay's declining years were 
relieved from anxiety and worry. Mr. Brown said that he 
would talk the matter over with some of his friends, and asked 
me to call in a few days, when he would communicate to me 
the result of his efforts. A few days afterwards he informed 
me that the debts would be taken care of, but that the people 
concerned in it did not want their names known to Mr. Clay, 
because they did not care to have him feel under any obliga- 
tions to them. The fund was raised, and Henry White was 
sent to Kentucky, where he settled the entire indebtedness of 
Mr. Clay. 

A few days after the debt had been paid, Mr. Clay called at 




CARPENTERS' HALL COURT, 322 CHESTNUT STREET. 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 23 

the bank (so I was infornicdj and stated that he had a note 
there ; that he was able to pay but a portion of it, and would 
have to ask that the balance be extended. The cashier in- 
formed Mr. Clay that he had no note there. 

" What !" said he ; " no note here ! what do you mean ?" 

"There is nothing here against you whatever, Mr. Clay," 
said the cashier. 

" What do you mean ?" said Mr. Clay. 

" I mean, sir, that your friends have paid every dollar you 
owed." 

" My friends ! who are they ?" 

" They desire their names kept secret. It was done through 
their appreciation of your services to the country and their 
respect for you." 

" Did any man ever have such friends !" remarked Mr. Clay, 
while the tears rolled down his cheeks. 

In 1854 I retired from the dry goods business and became 
interested with Colonel William M. Peyton and others in a 
tract of coal land, situated on Coal River, West Virginia. I 
organized a company for its development. Finding that Coal 
River did not furnish a sufficient quantity of water to float 
the barges carrying the coal, and that it was necessary to 
have it locked and dammed, I applied to the Legislature of 
the State of Virginia for sixty thousand dollars, which 
was six-tenths of the cost of doing the work. The Legis- 
lature was not favorably disposed to making any expendi- 
tures for internal improvements, and at first would not con- 
sider the question of any appropriation for public works. I 
spent nearly three months in Richmond endeavoring to get 
the Legislature to understand the immense undeveloped re- 
sources of the western portion of their State. I had a wagon- 
load of cannel-coal brought across the mountains to Rich- 
mond, and went to New York, where I purchased two gallons 
of oil made in Scotland from cannel-coal, for which I paid a 
dollar a gallon. On my return to Richmond I had a fire made 



2 A REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 

in the grate with the coal, and the oil placed in a lamp on the 
mantel, burning. This was done for the purpose of giving an 
illustration to the people of Virginia of the uses to which their 
coal could be put. This attracted much attention. Among 
those who spent much time in my room were Major Robert E. 
Lee, who became distinguished during the late war; Dr. Ran- 
dolph, a grandson of Thomas Jefferson ; a grandson of Patrick 
Henry; A. H. H. Stewart, who was in Fillmore's Cabinet; ex- 
Governor John B. Floyd, of Virginia, who was a member of 
the Legislative Committee on Internal Improvements. 
Through the influence of the latter I was permitted to go 
before that committee and make a statement. I informed 
them that Mr. Aspinwall, Mr. Pierrepont, and other prominent 
citizens of New York were interested in the enterprise, and if 
the State of Virginia would encourage the development of that 
portion of their State, I thought these gentlemen would take 
hold of what was then called the Virginia Central Railroad, 
and complete it to the Ohio River. The road was then but 
partially built, and was rapidly going into decay. I told them 
also that the coal would have to be shipped E^ast, and that we 
must have railroad facilities for doing it. Governor Floyd re- 
marked that it reminded him of an incident that happened to a 
young countryman of mine, whose father sent him to South 
Carolina with a drove of horses. He sold the horses, got into 
a gambling-house, and lost every dollar. Being afraid to go 
home without the money, he concluded he would rob a bank. 
He commenced digging under the wall of a bank, when it caved 
in. Some persons passing by asked him what in the world he 
was doing there. He replied that he was only digging his way 
back to Kentucky. " So )'ou think these Yankees, if we get 
them interested in Virginia, will dig their way back, do you ?" 
I told him I did. The Committee recommended that the ap- 
propriation be made, and the Legislature assented, and it was 
the only one made that session, except those to defray the 
expenses of the State. 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 2/ 

I thereupon went to New York, saw Mr. Aspinwall and Mr. 
Pierrepont, who got Mr. Huntingdon interested with them; 
the road was taken hold of and completed, and now extends 
from Newport News to the city of New Orleans. It has led to 
the building of cities, towns, and villages, and the opening of the 
then wilderness, and is worth millions of dollars to the Southern 
States. Coal River was locked and dammed from its connec- 
tion with Kanawha to Peytona. 

During my sojourn in Richmond the equestrian statue of 
General Washington in the public square was unveiled. A 
banquet to the visitors was given in the evening in what was 
then called the new post-office. I was present, and the occur- 
rences of that night have never passed from my mind. Hon. 
WiUiam L. Yancy, of Mississippi, made a very bitter speech, 
referring to the condition of the South, and urging the Southern 
States to secede from the Union and establish a government of 
their own, in order to be subject no longer to what he called 
the dictation of the Northern States. His remarks were re- 
ceived with much applause by many of the young men. I was 
then and there impressed with the difficulties that confronted 
us. How they could be avoided was a subject of much reflec- 
tion to me. It prompted me to urge Virginia to select James 
Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, a conservative Northern State, for 
President, and John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, also a con- 
servative State, for Vice-President. P2x-Governor Floyd, and 
other prominent men in Richmond, concurred in my views. 
The con\ention — for the selection of delegates to attend the 
Presidential convention to be held in Cincinnati — met in the 
African Church, Richmond, and the delegates were instructed 
to vote for Buchanan and Breckinridge. 

I had Hon. W. H. Witte go to Lancaster to see Mr. Bu- 
chanan, and, through his influence, ex- Governor Floyd was 
made a member of Mr Buchanan's cabinet. 

The growing sentiment of secession became a subject of 
crreat worriment to me. Being of Southern birth, and many 



28 REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 

members of my family living in the South, it naturally caused 
me much uneasiness. In 1859 I visited Nashville, Tennessee, 
expecting to meet Colonel Balie Peyton on his return from 
California, but did not see him, as he was detained in California 
for nearly a month. I called to see Hon. John Bell, with whom 
my relations had been very friendly for a number of years, and 
mentioned to him my apprehensions for the future. He did 
not consider the subject in the same light that I did, and looked 
upon it as a movement confined to a few impulsive people, 
which would die out without any bad effect. We discussed 
the situation until after twelve o'clock at night, and, on sepa- 
rating, he said he would leave the question to myself and 
Balie Peyton, and that whatever we thought, after our confer- 
ence, was advisable, he would unite heartily in supporting. 
This was in the month of October. In November, Colonel 
Peyton came to Philadelphia, and spent a week with me. As 
he had been United States Minister to Chili, and was for four 
or five years in California, he could not realize the feeling that 
had grown up between the North and the South during his 
absence. He said he " would as soon think of slapping his 
mother in the face, as think of breaki-ng up the Union of the 
States." Eight or ten days after his return to Tennessee he 
wrote me, saying that he was sorry to learn that my views 
were apparently correct, and asked how the difficulty could be 
avoided. I wrote to him, stating that as he was a prominent 
member of the Whig party, and had been long out of the 
country, I would get my friends in Philadelphia to tender him 
a dinner, to which he could invite prominent members of that 
party, and determine what steps had best be taken. He replied 
that the citizens of Philadelphia were under no obligations to 
him, and thought it indelicacy on my part, as a relative of his, 
to suggest such a reception. I told him that while it was to 
be a compliment to him, that was not my object, but to make 
use of him as a means of bringing together the members of 
the old Whig party, — the conservative Union party, — to con- 




BALIE PEYTON. 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. n , 

sider how the future interests of the country could be preserved. 
After a conference with Mr. Bell, he accepted the invitation. 

The dinner was gi\'en on Saturday, January 14, i860, in the 
Academy of Music, there being about six hundred persons 
present. AniDng the guests were ex-Secretary of War Conrad; 
Mr, Gillman, of North Carolina; John J. Crittenden, of Ken- 
tucky ; and Horace Maynard, of Tennessee. Speeches were 
mtde by Balie Peyton, Mr. Gillman, Mr. Crittenden, James 
Campbell, of Pennsylvania, and Joseph B. Comegys, of Dela- 
ware, who said that his State was the first to accept the Con- 
stitution, and would be the last to desert it. Horace Maynard 
stated that if the Northern people persisted in electing a sec- 
tional President, the South would secede. He was hissed. 
Morton McMichael, the presiding officer, adjourned the meeting 
at once. 

On the following Monday, Colonel Balie Peyton and I, with 
Marcellus Mundy, met in what was then called the Chamber of 
Commerce. We then outlined what became the Constitutional 
Union Party, the principles of which were the Union, the Con- 
stitution, and the enforcement of the laws. Colonel Peyton 
suggested that if I wanted to make the movement successful, 
it would be necessary for me to visit the South, see the promi- 
nent men of the Whig party, and, if possible, get them. to con- 
sent to be delegates to the convention of the party, which was 
to be held in Baltimore in the following May. I did so, and 
spent more than a month in the South. On my return I went 
to Boston, and there saw the Hon. George H. Hilliard. I 
made known to him the objects and purposes of the party, 
and our desire to secure the ablest men we could to come to 
the convention. He consented to be a delegate, and made one 
of the most eloquent speeches of the convention. I represented 
the First District of New Jersey. There never had been such 
a convention held in the United States since the one that framed 
the Constitution. No person was present who expected political 
preferment or personal advancement, but every man was there 



32 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 



with his heart and soul in the future welfare of his country. 
The convention nominated John Bell, of Tennessee, for Presi- 
dent, and Edward Everett, of Massachusetts, for Vice-President. 

A short time before the convention I visited Virginia, and 
went over the matter with a number of well-known citizens, 
among whom were Alexander H. H. Stewart and John B. 
Baldwin. I was very much gratified when Virginia cast her 
vote for Bell and Everett, the first and only time that I know 
of her voting anything but the Democratic ticket. 

The election took place with the following result, according 
to the official vote of the slave-holding States : 

John Bell. John C. Breckinridge. 

Alabama 28,875 48,831 

Delaware 3,864 7i337 

Maryland 44,681 42,482 

Georgia 42,886 51,889 

Kentucky 66,058 53,i43 

Virginia 74,68 1 74,323 

North Carolina .... 44,990 48,539 

Missouri 58,372 31,317 

Tennessee 69,274 64,709 

Louisiana 20,204 22,681 

Mississippi 25,040 40,792 

Arkansas 20,094 28,732 

Texas 15,110 47,547 

Florida 5,437 8,543 

519,566 570,865 

The result of that election is without a parallel in the 
history of the United States. Had it not been for the Con- 
stitutional Union Party that nominated John Bell, — an able, 
popular, and conservative Southern man, — against Abraham 
Lincoln, the candidate of the so-called " Black Republican 
Abolition Party," the slave-holding States would have voted 
solidly for John C. Breckinridge, and seceded as a solid people, 
and established a government of their own, which would un- 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 



Z?> 



doubtedly have been recognized by Great Britain, France, 
Spain, Germany, and Italy, and possibly Mexico and the other 
Central American Republics, owing to their close relations to 
Texas, and, in all probability, based on free-trade principles. 
These governments would no doubt have aided the South 
with men and money, it being to their commercial interest that 
the South should secede from the Union, as, being exclusively 
an agricultural country based on free-trade ideas, it would open 
a fair market for their manufactured products to the exclusion 
of those of the Northern States. 

I do not think there has been born in the United States of 
America an individual who did more for his country than 
Balie Peyton. He made the canvass of the Southern States 
during the Bell and Everett campaign. His speeches were in 
favor of the Union of the States, were eloquent and impressive, 
and caused the people to reflect and stand by the Union of the 
States and support the President, whoever might be elected, in 
the preservation of our Union. They stood by the principles 
announced in their platform, and sustained Mr., Lincoln's admin- 
istration in preserving the Union and the Constitution through 
the enforcement of the laws. Owing to the excitement inci- 
dent to the war, the Bell and Everett party has never been 
comprehended or its services to the country fully appreciated. 

Mr. Lincoln was elected and inaugurated. About a month 
after his inauguration I called on him with a letter from a friend 
of mine, who was then a resident of Springfield, Illinois, Mr. 
Lincoln's home. I was at once ushered into his office. I told 
him that I had opposed his election, and did all that I could to 
defeat him, and was instrumental in starting the movement by 
which John Bell, of Tennessee, and Edward Everett, of Massa- 
chusetts, were nominated ; that I supported Mr. Bell because 
he was an old friend, a member of the Whig Party, and highly 
esteemed by his countrymen. Mr. Lincoln said that he had 
always been a member of the Whig Party, and that " Henry 
Clay was the jack-staff by which he steered." I spoke of the 



^4 REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 

principles of the Constitutional Party, and he stated that he 
heartily endorsed them. I also informed him that the party 
was prepared to support him, provided he would not interfere 
with the Constitutional rights of the States. I think he stated 
that he was opposed to any violation of the Constitution, and 
that he would use every means within his official power to pre- 
serve the Union of the States ; that the rights of the Southern 
States would be recognized the same as the other States ; that 
he was opposed to the extension of slavery into the Territories, 
and thought it a crreat misfortune to our race that it had ever 
existed in this country. I concurred in all that he said, and, as 
he endorsed the platform of our part)', I felt myself bound to 
sustain his administration, and gave him, on that occasion, my 
assurances of support. 

I told him that one of the chief sources of worriment to me was 
the condition of my native State, Kentucky, and that I thought 
if the people were kindly treated, and brought to reflect upon 
the subject, the State could be induced to hold her position in 
the Union, notwithstanding the efforts of the Southern States, 
to which she was closely allied through interest and blood. 

To secure his confidence and friendship, we being natives of 
the same State, I handed him a letter that I had some years 
previously received from ex-Governor Metcalfe, whom Mr. 
Lincoln looked upon as one of Kentucky's most eminent men. 
He read it with very great interest, being himself personally ac- 
quainted with the author. He stated, " From your family rela- 
tions with the people of Kentucky, from the time of its settle- 
ment to the present, your influence will probably be felt more 
than that of any man who could visit the State, and I hope, as 
we are Kentuckians, that you will use it in that direction." 

After some further conversation, I consented to go to Ken- 
tucky. I then left the President and returned to Philadelphia, 
and called upon Joseph R. Ingersoll and other citizens promi- 
nently identified with public affairs, told them of my interview 
with President Lincoln, and that I felt, in view of his expressions. 




INDEPENDENCE HALL, 1776. 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 



2,7 



it was our duty, under any and all circumstances, to sustain liim 
in his efforts towards the preservation of the Union, and that 
I had consented to go to Kentucky and do all that I could to 
induce her to hold her place in the Union. Mr. Ingersoll was 
at first disinclined to take any active part in supporting Mr. 
Lincoln's administration, but finally came to the conclusion 
that it was his duty to do so, and he prepared and gave me 
the following letter, which was signed by several of those who 
took part in the Balie Peyton dinner : 

Philadelphia, March 21, 1861. 

Dear Sir, — You have been so long and so favorably known in peace 
and in war that there ought to be no rehictance in inviting your co-opera- 
tion in measures which may contribute in a time of need to the welfare 
of the country. There can be no reluctance on your part in acceding to 
the call. Throughout the United States there are individuals everywhere 
who are devoted to the Union. Recent events would seem to exhibit 
them in certain places in a minority. The contagion of example is 
powerful for evil as well as for good, and the majorities are liable to 
augmentation. Tendencies towards mischief have not been effectually 
arrested, although sternly rebuked by patriotic and manly appeals which 
have been uttered by the wise in different places. Insubordination has 
increased, and, we lament to say, is probably on the increase still. It 
can be checked only by a general effort of wisdom and strength, and 
such effort can be made available by united action from every quarter. 
Representatives from each and every section must be brought together to 
confer upon mutual suggestions, to deliberate on proper means of utility, 
to determine on prompt, vigorous, and judicious measures, and to seek 
by liberal conciliation and fair purpose to bring together in one harmo- 
nious whole of design and action all who sincerely love their country. 

In the class of lovers of their country will be embraced every one 
who earnestly wishes to arrest its now dangerous and downward tenden- 
cies, and to elevate it once more to the position which it has held at least 
for more than half a century, in its own becoming pride and in the 
respect and esteem of the whole civilized world. 

Your gallant State has been at all times true. Her prominent men 
have been prompt in times of tumult and disorder, of difficulty and 
danger, to throw themselves into the breach, and, regardless of mere 
party ties, to lead the way through evil and through good report to tran- 



38 REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 

quillity, honor, and durable prosperity. Many are the occasions on 
whicli your himented fellow-statesman, now no more, effected by his 
untiring exercise of influence and persuasion compromises when peril 
was imminent and hope almost dismayed. His manly course has not 
been forgotten. Another patriot of Kentucky has recently been foremost 
to cast aside all base motives of party or personal ambition, and to make 
bold exertions for the general good. His zeal has not abated for a 
moment. In all parts of the republic his steadfast efforts have received 
merited applause. These patriotic trials cannot be lost. They will stand 
a living lesson for the present day, and an enduring legacy for future 
generations. While there was no mere theory about them, they have 
remained unhappily inoperative in practice. One way is open to render 
them immediately of incalculable use. 

One object in this communication is to invite the friends of Union 
everywhere, and especially the citizens of Kentucky, through your means, 
to concur in measures for a general convention, to be composed of men 
of like feelings with themselves from every State. Let it be held in that 
venerated and almost sacred temple whose walls resounded with the 
early proclamation of independence ; and of a more perfect Union in the 
shape of a constitutional form of government ; and let the deeds and the 
day be celebrated on the spot consecrated to freedom, and on the ever 
memorable fourth day of July. 

Your friends and immediate fellow-citizens can best determine how 
they should lead their noble Commonwealth to the selection and arrange- 
ment which must be preparatory. We have a similar step in contempla- 
tion, and hope not to delay its execution. 

A convention for the good of the Union in a moment of disaster 
cannot require from us a detail of measures. With hearts and minds 
prepared to advise, and hands ready to execute, the spirit of action will 
be arrested and directed ; and it is not too much to expect that results 
must ensue like the flowing tide in clear and wholesome waters. 

Sincerely yours, 
J. R. Ingersoll, M. S. Shapleigh, 

P. McCall, James C. Hand, 

M. MuNDY, D. Haddock, Jr., 

J. W. Bacon, M.D., Charles D. Reed, 

E. W. Baily, Fred. Fleishome, 

John Grigg, E. B. Shapleigh, 

C. W. LiTTELL, Francis S. Ott, 

James Martin, S. W. DeCoursey. 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 



39 



Tliis letter was sent by Curtis S. Burnham to the clerk of 
the House of Representatives, who read it, where it created a 
very favorable impression upon the members. 

I will never forget my efforts to draw the Bell and Everett 
party to the support of Mr. Lincoln. Some of my well-known 
friends in the South, who were members of the party, deserted 
the cause, because otherwise they would have had to leave 
their homes, dispose of their property, or live there and be 
looked upon as traitors to their State. John Bell removed to 
Georgia, where he died. 

I spent five or six weeks in Kentucky, and found that there 
was a feeling among many that the State should maintain a 
neutral position in the controversy between the North and the 
South. I was told by some old men that I had better go 
home, and let Kentucky affairs alone. The result of my 
visit was in every way satisfactory. I returned with a letter 
from Major Anderson, of Fort Sumter fame, with authority 
to equip a regiment in New Jersey for service in Kentucky, — 
not so much for field-service, as for the purpose of bringing 
the people of the two sections of the country together and en- 
abling them to commingle and become acquainted with the 
views of each other. When I delivered the letter to Governor 
Olden, of New Jersey, he informed me that the State quota, 
consisting of four regiments, was made up. 

Kentucky maintained her position in the Union, and the Leg- 
islature appointed a committee of seven to devise means for the 
protection of the State. This committee authorized the raising 
and equipping of ten regiments, and arranged with me to have 
them equipped in Philadelphia. The governor, on hearing that 
the regiments were to be fitted out in the East, asked the com- 
mittee to meet him at his office, and suggested the advisability 
of having them equipped in Kentucky. The committee was with 
him until about twelve o'clock at night, when Philip Sweigard, a 
prominent citizen of Frankfort, and secretary of the committee, 
called to see me, and told me that the governor would allow 



40 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 



the committee to name a quartermaster and an adjutant-gen- 
eral if the regiments were equipped in Kentucky under State 
authority. I advised the committee to accept the governor's 
proposition, and pay the expenses of equipping the regiments in 
greenbacks of the government, stating that every man who had 
government paper was interested to that extent, at least, in 
preserving the government. On telling Mr. Sweigard that I 
was going to leave for the East on the early morning train, lie 
asked me to remain over and meet the committee the following 
morning at ten o'clock. I did so, and told them that I under- 
stood that the banks of Kentucky had on deposit in the 
city of New York about four million five hundred thousand 
dollars in gold, and, as that city was composed mostly 
of foreigners, they had no assurance, in case war broke 
out and became a disruptive affair, that they would ever 
see a dollar of their gold, and advised them to exchange it 
for greenbacks, and trust their government for its return. A 
bank president, who was a member of the committee, thought 
it a wise suggestion, and asked me how it could be brought 
about. I suggested to him that a meeting of the bank presi- 
dents of Kentucky be called, and measures adopted looking to 
that end. He asked me if I could come out and attend such a 
meeting two weeks from that date. I told him I could, and 
did so, and the banks of Kentucky were the first in the country 
to make an exchange of their gold for greenbacks of the United 
States. The authority to equip ten regiments, and the willing- 
ness to exchange gold for paper, gave confidence and an inspi- 
ration in the city of Philadelphia that I had no expectation of 
seeing. 

My gratitude to Kentucky prompted me to recognize the 
centennial of her admission into the Union by presenting her 
with pictures of the historic buildings of our country, — the 
State House and Congress Hall, in Philadelphia, — the place 
where the government had its inception and organization, and 
where Kentucky became a member of our family of States, 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 43 

and of the building- in which Thomas Jefferson wrote the 
Declaration of Independence. 

Whilst on a visit to Washington near the close of 1862 I met 
Judge Usher, of Indiana, who was on friendly terms with my 
brother, a resident of the same State. We talked over the con- 
dition of affairs of our country, which were clouded with doubt 
and uncertainty. My idea was the issuance of an ordinance to 
free the slave and have him, instead of producing supplies for 
the Confederate army, go into the Union army to secure his 
liberty and the union of the States. I told the Judge that, in 
my judgment, Abraham Lincoln's election as President of the 
United States was the end of slavery ; that, if the slave-holding 
States established an independent government, the slaves would 
escape and go into the free States, where the controlling power 
of abolitionism would protect and defend them. If the former 
owner followed them, it would be at the risk of his life. The 
same condition of affairs would have existed under the union 
of the States ; that the abolition sentiment had become a power 
in many of the free States. The Judge asked me to write him 
a letter embod}'ing my \'iews. I did so, and he showed the 
letter to President Lincoln, who, he stated, had it read in a 
Cabinet meeting. The Judge, in reply to my letter, said that if 
I should visit Washington the President would be glad to have 
me call to see him. I did visit the capital in a few days, and 
called with the judge to see the President. The contents of my 
letter were talked over, and the suggestion favored of paying 
for the slaves and instituting gradual emancipation. President 
Lincoln seemed to think that the Union element would oppose 
an ordinance taking their property from them without compen- 
sation ; that they would rebel and join the Confederacy. I 
assured him that capital invested in slaves was not regarded, 
under the condition of affairs, as being reliable, except under 
the protection of the government, and if the union of the 
States was severed, it had reached its end. They were for the 
Union, and would sustain its perpetuity at any sacrifice of life 



44 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 



or property. The President stated that if time and circum- 
stances required action of the kind named, the subject would 
be duly considered. We parted with feelings of mutual friend- 
ship. 

I have now concluded my reminiscences of my connection 
with civic affairs, and reach the opening of the Civil War. 

In January, 1861, I was called upon by Colonel Young, who 
bore a letter of introduction to me from Judge Barry, a 
brother-in-law of Balie Peyton. Young had come East with 
the view of establishing a paper in Nashville, to be called the 
Spirit of the South. In view of the trouble between the two 
sections of the country he changed his plans, and obtained 
from the Secretary of War, Simon Cameron, authority to raise 
a regiment. He called upon me and asked the privilege of 
using my name as quartermaster. Owing to my lack of 
knowledge of military affairs, and for other reasons, I de- 
clined. 

A few days afterwards, being in Washington, I took breakfast 
with Secretary Cameron, whom I knew very well, and told him 
that Young had called upon me and requested the use of my 
name as quartermaster. Young appeared to have impressed 
the Secretary with the idea that if he had a regiment he could 
put down the Rebellion. Mr. Cameron said that he thought 
Young was a man of courage and would be of service to the 
country, and, under the circumstances, granted the authority 
to recruit the regiment ; and, as he knew that I desired to do all 
in my power to save the Union, thought I ought not to hesitate 
in allowing my name to be used in any matter looking to that 
end; that I had become very well known through my connec- 
tion with the Constitutional Union Party, and he hoped I would 
do all I could to sustain the administration. I therefore con- 
sented, and accepted the position of quartermaster in Young's 
regiment. That fact was published in the newspapers, and 
in nineteen days I had the assurance of fourteen full com- 
panies. Twelve of them were mustered into the service, and 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 45 

two of the companies were turned over to Colonel Max Fried- 
man, whose head-quarters were on Ridge Avenue, in Phila- 
delphia. The head-quarters of the so-called " Young's Ken- 
tucky Cavalry" was named, as a compliment to me, " Camp 
Peyton," at Haddonfield, New Jersey. It is so recognized in 
history. 

I had a white elephant on my hands. Here were twelve hun 
dred men without means at their command to secure either' 
rations, horses, or the necessary equipments for service. I went 
to Washington, saw Secretary Cameron, stated the condition 
of affairs to him, and went with him to see President Lincoln, 
who sent for General Meigs. It appeared as if no one could 
give authority for the equipping of cavalry. I told the Presi- 
dent that the men were without the means of buying their 
own equipments, and that unless assistance was at once forth- 
coming they would have to disband. Congress was then in 
session, and the subject was brought to the attention of the 
Committee on Military Affairs. Three regiments of cavalry 
were authorized to be equipped, — one from New York, one from 
Iowa, and the so-called "Young's Kentucky Cavalry," from 
Pennsylvania. 

It was some months before the government paid the bills 
for provisions for the regiments, amounting to two thousand 
seven hundred and fifty dollars, the interest on which I had 
to pay personally. This was the first regiment of cavalry that 
reached Washington after the outbreak of the war. Colonel 
Harlan was to have filled the position of lieutenant-colonel, 
but difficulties arose between him and Colonel Young, and 
they separated. The regiment was put under the command of 
Colonel (afterwards General) Averill. and was numbered the 
Third Pennsylvania Regiment. It distinguished itself at Salem, 
Virginia, where it cut the line of communication between Ten- 
nessee and Richmond. 

General Harlan applied for, and received, authority from the 
Secretar\' of War to recruit a regiment of cavalry, and asked 



46 REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 

mc to allow him to use my name in raising the necessary 
number of men. After some hesitation, I consented, and 
established head-quarters at the St. Louis Hotel, where the 
First National Bank of Philadelphia now stands. General 
Harlan, losing his health, the entire labor, trouble, and ex- 
pense of raising the regiment devolved upon me. Samuel D. 
Wetherill, then a resident of Easton, a well known Philadel- 
phian, wrote to me, and stated that if I would have him made 
major of the regiment he would furnish four companies. 
Knowing him as I did, I accepted his proposition, the com- 
panies were furnished, and we jointly quickly made up the 
other eight. That was the Eleventh Regiment of Pennsylvania 
Cavalry. General Harlan went to Washington with the regi- 
ment, and was mustered into service. He took with him all 
the papers in connection with recruiting the regiment. He 
was soon mustered out of service, and the papers were lost. 
The result was I never received a dollar for the expenses in- 
curred in fitting out either Young's Kentucky Cavalry or the 
Eleventh Regiment of Pennsylvania Cavalry, all of which were 
paid by me. As the papers were lost, I could not make any 
legal claim on the State of Pennsylvania or the government of 
the United States. 

I may, without personal laudation or injustice to any one, 
claim the credit of placing the Third and Eleventh Regiments 
of Pennsylvania Cavalry in the field, and I am sorry to say but 
a ^e\v of them survive. 

I will here state that I found Secretary of War Cameron to 
have a clearer and a more accurate comprehension of the con- 
dition of the country than any j^erson with whom I conferred. 
He recognized the intelligence, courage, and energy of the 
American citizen ; and as the Southern States comprised a vast 
extent of territory, the population of which was made up of 
that class of people, he knew it would cost a great many lives 
and a great deal of treasure before the Rebellion could be 
crushed out. 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. ^^ 

47 

My next relation with tiie government was at the instance 
of John Edgar Thompson, the president of the Pennsylvania 
Railroad Company, whom I had known for many years. He 
suggested that I raise a regiment of cavalry for special service 
in Kentucky, where the Confederate States obtained their sup- 
plies of horses and provisions. He thought I was the proper 
person to do this work, as I was a native of that State and 
was acquainted with the people. He wrote a letter to that 
effect to President Lincoln, which was signed by Morton 
McMichael, Henry C. Carey, and other prominent Philadel- 
phians. The President thought well of it, and referred it to 
General Halleck, who, however, declined to grant the author- 
ity, on the ground that it was for special service. He changed 
it to general service, to which I assented. I returned to Phila- 
delphia, and opened my head-quarters- at Fourth and Walnut 
Streets. 

In a short time I had four hundred and forty-five men en- 
rolled, and encamped at " Camp Metcalfe," adjoining Haddon- 
field. New Jersey. The battle of Fredericksburg had been 
fought, and the Union forces were defeated ; the people saw 
wounded soldiers brought home. These facts, and the severity 
of the weather, embarrassed recruiting. As the time within 
which to recruit the regiment was about to expire, I applied to 
the authorities in Washington for an extension. President 
Lincoln referred the application to Secretary Stanton, with 
a favorable recommendation. The Secretary of War wrote 
under this endorsement, with his own hand, " For good and 
sufficient reasons I decline. — Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of 
War." 

The letter was brought to me at Willard's Hotel. After 
supper I called to see President Lincoln, who was then in 
conference with Senator Harris, of New York, Judge Davis, 
of Illinois, and Senator Henry L. Wilson, of Massachusetts. 
These gentlemen had called to try to induce the President to 
reinstate General George B. McClellan. I was sitting in the 



48 



REMINISCENCES OF THE EAST. 



ante-room, and distinctly heard President Lincoln say that his 
past relations with General McClellan were like father and son, 
or elder and younger brother ; that there was no truer Union 
man in the country, and that to organize and discipline an 
army he did not have his superior in this or any other country ; 
"but, gentlemen, somehow or other when it comes to the 
scratch Little Mack won't act." 

Senator Harris and Judge Davis soon left. The Judge, in 
passing, said, " If you want to see the President, step in." I 
did so, and the President asked me what I wanted. I told 
him that I wanted to know what the Secretary of War meant 
when he said that " for good and sufficient reasons" he de- 
clined to grant me an extension of time to organize the regi- 
ment. The President said it would not do for him to take part 
in any quarrel between Mr. Stanton and myself I replied, 
" Very well, sir," and turned to leave. Senator Wilson, w^io 
was in the room, asked me if I was Colonel Peyton, and, 
being told I was, said that he had received a letter a few days 
before from William B. Claflin, afterwards Governor of Massa- 
chusetts, and for several years a member of Congress, who 
requested him to do anything he could for me should he 
meet me in Washhigton ; that he had had many conversations 
with me regarding the condition of the country, and alwa}'s 
found me correct in what I said. Mr. Wilson then told the 
President that it was his duty to let me know what Mr. Stanton 
meant by his note. The President said he would look into it, 
and let me know. Two days afterwards the extension was 
granted, but with no explanation of what Stanton meant. I 
therefore returned the authority, and stated in my letter that I 
would have nothing to do with the military service so long as 
Stanton was at the head of it. 

In all I recruited three thousand and forty-five men for 
the service, and they stand to the credit of the State of Penn- 
sylvania. 

When in Washington in 1863, I met an old and intimate 



m 






1 

i 
i 


*'■ . 


■ 


1 tf'; 


WKtMb 



^nU^ivHi 




CONGRESS HALL, SIXTH AND CHESTNUT STREETS. 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. ^i 

friend from Tennessee, who was in Washington in company 
with Governor Andrew Johnson, the miHtary governor of that 
State. He told me that Governor Johnson had received au- 
thority to raise twenty-five thousand troops to take the place 
of Sherman's army when it moved South. On meeting him 
the day following, he informed me that Johnson would like to 
see me. I called on the governor, who was stopping at the 
St. Charles Hotel. He asked me to recruit a remment to o-q 
to Tennessee. I told him of the difficulty I had with Stanton, 
and that I would have nothing to do with the War Department 
so long as he was Secretary. He informed me that my reports 
would not be made to Mr. Stanton, but to him, and that his 
would be made directly to the President. After having a 
second interview with him, I decided to aid him. I arranged 
to recruit a brigade of four regiments, which were to be sta- 
tioned at Nashville and to remain there as the governor's 
guard. 

Unfortunately the governor was not on very good terms with 
the Union element of Tennessee or with the citizens. He felt 
that my connection with the Union Party would tend to sustain 
his administration in holding the State in line. I came home 
and made preliminary arrangements for four regiments. As 
General Lee was marching on Gettysburg, Johnson's authority 
was rescinded, and, of course, my authority fell with his. The 
expenses I was put to in connection with this regiment were 
never repaid me. 

During my conversations with Governor Johnson, the sub- 
ject of the use of his name for Vice-President was mentioned. 
I told him that I thought his name upon the ticket would satisfy 
the public that the war was neither partisan nor sectional. He 
said that he had no objection to the use of his name, but did 
not believe that it would be acceptable to the Republican 
Party. 

During the winter of 1864, Hon. N. G. Taylor, of Tennessee, 
came East to secure aid for the destitute people of the eastern 



52 REMIXISCENCES OF THE PAST. 

section of that State. He brought letters to me from Parson 
Brownlow and other citizens of Knoxville. Mr. Taylor went 
with me to Harrisburg, where we called on Governor Curtin. 
I showed him the letters, and Taylor depicted the destitute 
condition of the people, and asked that their wants be con- 
sidered. The governor called attention to it in his message, 
and the Legislature referred the appeal to the people with a 
favorable recommendation. In response to the action of the 
Legislature, a meeting of citizens was held in the Academy 
of Music. I secured the signatures of George M. Dallas, 
Horace Binney, Joseph R. Ligersoll, and many other well- 
known citizens of Philadelphia to the call for this meeting. 
Mr. Taylor was present and made an address. A committee 
was appointed through which the wants of the people of Ten- 
nessee were attended to. 

I accompanied Taylor to New York, Boston, and Providence, 
Rhode Island. The subscriptions amounted to one hundred 
and seventy-five thousand dollars, and were forwarded by the 
several committees in whose hands the matter had been placed 
to Mr. Odion, of Cincinnati, through whom it was distributed 
among the people of Tennessee. 

General Hiram Walbridge, knowing that I had incurred 
expense in performing this work, called the attention of the 
New York committee to that fact. The committee responded 
to his sucrcrestion, and sent me a check for an amount about 
covering the expenses incurred. I knew nothing of his action 
until I received the check. 

During my trip with Colonel Taylor through New York, 
I breakfasted with Thurlow Weed at Albany. I gave him my 
reasons why I thought Andrew Johnson a good man to nomi- 
nate as Vice-President. He agreed with me, and believed that 
it would add strength to the ticket. The next morning he 
announced, at the top of one of the columns in his paper, 
" Lincoln and Johnson" as the Republican candidates for Presi- 
dent and Vice-President. The subject was kept before the 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 



53 



people until the convention met in Baltimore, and Johnson was 
placed on the ticket with Lincoln. 

I considered the re-election of Andrew G. Curtin as gov- 
ernor of Pennsylvania one of the important events of the 
time. My friends in New Jersey joined me in the purchase of 
Audubon's works, very elegantly bound in Russia morocco, 
which were presented to him, on his second inauguration in 
the House of Representatives, by Hon. James B. Dayton, of 
Camden. 

I visited Richmond, Virginia, in October, 1865. The people 
were gloomy and depressed. The outlook for the future was, 
to them, an3/thing but hopeful. I said to old friends and rela- 
tives that the proper thing to do was to start a movement 
looking to a grand reunion of the descendants of the old 
American families, in 1876, in Philadelphia. Some thought 
the suggestion premature. I told them that such a meeting 
would remind the people of what our ancestors had endured 
to secure our independence and to make us a united people 
under constitutional government ; and also that in such re- 
union the State of Virginia would stand at the front, having 
given to the country such statesmen as Henry, Jefferson, 
Washington, Madison, and Marshall. I then saw and con- 
ferred with descendants of Patrick Henry and Thomas Jeffer- 
son, and also saw Hon. A. H. H. Stewart, all of whom thought 
the idea a good one. I am sorry to say that Mr. Stewart's 
letter in answer to one he requested me to write him has been 
misplaced. 

On my return home I called on Robert Morris, — a grandson 
of Robert Morris, of Revolutionary fame, — who also approved 
of the idea. I subsequently saw and conferred with a descend- 
ant of each of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, 
with but one exception. They all took an interest in the pro- 
posed Centennial. 

While making plans for a preliminary meeting, to be held in 
Independence Hall, Philadelphia, the Southern States were put 



54 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 



under military government, and they therefore declined to take 
any part in the proposed meeting. This, for a time, disarranged 
my plans. 

In 1868 or 1869 I was in Concord, New Hampshire, and, 
while there, was introduced to General Thomas Whipple, a 
grandson of one of the Signers. I told him of the proposed 
Centennial, and of the refusal of the Southern States to take 
part in it, by reason of being placed under military rule, and 
suggested the propriety of having the State of New Hampshire 
take some steps in the matter. The Legislature was then in 
session, and we secured the services of Hon. Edmund Burke, 
a prominent lawyer, and he prepared resolutions which were 
duly introduced into the Legislature, requesting the State of 
New Hampshire to petition the government of the United 
States to purchase Independence Hall and the square upon 
which it is situated, to be formally dedicated, on the fourth day 
of July, 1876, to the people of the United States. The Legis- 
lature was, pohtically, evenly divided on the subject. The bill 
was introduced by a Democrat, and the leader of the Repub- 
licans moved that it be laid on the table, which motion was 
carried. 

On being informed of this, I called on him. I ascertained that 
he had resided for some time in California, and was a warm friend 
of Balie Peyton. On learning that I was related to Mr. Peyton, 
he received me very cordially. I then explained the merits of 
the bill before the Legislature : that there were no politics in 
the measure, but that it was national in its broadest sense. In 
the afternoon of that day he moved that the bill be taken up, 
when it passed by a unanimous vote. 

It was published in the papers, and Patrick Gilmore took up 
the idea of a peace jubilee, which was arranged and carried 
through with great success, and called attention to the impor- 
tant meetings of the citizens in 1876. 

The action of the Legislature of New Hampshire was soon 
after followed by that of the State of New Jersey, the munici- 




HON. JOHN WELSH. 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. c^y 

pal government of the city of Boston, and, in 1 871, by the 
Legislature of Virginia. 

It was with great difficulty that I succeeded in getting the 
State of Virginia to appoint a committee to visit Philadelphia 
to confer with the city officials regarding the Centennial. They 
seemed to think that they would be unkindly treated, owing to 
the feeling between the two sections of the country growing out 
of the recent war. The committee was, however, appointed, 
and during their stay in Philadelphia were the guests of Mr. 
E. L. Davenport, the manager of the Chestnut Street Theatre. 
A special performance was given in their honor, and at its close 
Mr. Davenport was called front by the committee, and made 
a very eloquent and touching address of welcome. The fol- 
lowing day they visited Independence Hall and Carpenters' 
Hall. 

Mayor Fox welcomed them to the city in a very patriotic 
speech, which was responded to by the chairman of the com- 
mittee. The committee presented Mr. Davenport with a gold- 
headed cane, as a token of their appreciation of his courtesy. 
A banquet was tendered the committee by the city, at the 
Continental Hotel, over which Colonel William B. Mann pre- 
sided. One of- the committee, in the course of his speech at 
this banquet, declared that "the door of secession was locked 
and the key thrown into the bottomless pit." 

There was some doubt as to whether the Centennial Exposi- 
tion ought to be held in Philadelphia or New York. I visited 
Trenton, where the Legislature was in session, and had resolu- 
tions passed endorsing Philadelphia as the proper place, and 
1876 as the appropriate time, for holding it. These resolutions 
were approved by the Legislatures of Connecticut, Delaware, 
Virginia, North Carolina, and the municipal government of 
the city of Boston. The time and place being set, a charter 
was subsequently obtained. 

After the organization of the Commission and the Board 
of Finance was completed, I suggested that our leading inter- 



58 



.REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 



ests should organize, and be represented in the Exposition. 
This suggestion was approved by the Board of Directors, and 
I thereupon appeared before the Society to Promote Agriculture 
in the United States (which society was organized in 1785). 
They adopted resolutions fiivoring the suggestion, and the 
work of organization commenced. David Landreth was sug- 
gested for president, but, owing to his advanced years, the 
office was conferred upon his son, who discharged the duties 
of his position with great ability. 

In 1874 I made a visit to Boston, and in the car occupied a 
seat beside a young gentleman whom I ascertained was trav- 
elling for the American Clock Company, of Hartford, Con- 
necticut. He informed me that he had been travelling a little 
over three months, and in that time had sold sixteen hundred 
clocks. In view of the depressed condition of business through- 
out the country, I considered it a very good showing. He 
said that the American clocks were used all over the world, 
and that a clock thirty days after leaving the factory in Hart- 
ford would be keeping time in Japan. On my arrival at Boston 
I went to the Parker House, and there met ex-Governor Fair- 
banks, of Vermont. I told him of the conversation I had had 
with the clock salesman, and was informed by Mr. Fairbanks 
that his scales were the standard scales of the world. The next 
day, while on School Street, a gentlemen stopped me and asked 
me if I remembered him. On my replying that I did not, he 
told me that his name was George Richardson. I asked him 
where he was living, and he said, Cairo. Thinking he meant 
Cairo. Illinois, I asked him about Mound City affairs, and he 
then informed me that he was living in Cairo, Egypt, and 
that he was the agent there for Ames's plows, McCormick's 
reapers and mowers, and other American agricultural imple- 
ments. On leaving him I called on Mr. Cummings, the presi- 
dent of one of Boston's best-known banks, who was also 
extensively engaged in the tanning business. He informed 
me that his leather was hemlock tanned, and was shipped to 




BUNKER HILL MONUMENT. 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. gi 

London, there made into shoes, then shipped to Mexico and 
Egypt. 

From this visit I learned in a practical way that America 
was far ahead of the world in manufacturing industries ; that 
her scales were the standard scales of the world ; that she fur- 
nished farming implements to till the soil from which the 
Israelites gathered straw four thousand years ago to make 
their bricks; that American shoes were also used in Egypt;* 
and that American clocks were keeping time all over the 
world. 

In January, 1875, I was again in Boston, and called the 
attention of the citizens to the importance of a Centennial cel- 
ebration, during that year, of the battle of Bunker Hill, in 
which the thirteen original States should be invited to partici- 
pate, and be represented by a regiment from each, and thus 
bring the soldiers who had been in conflict with each other in 
the recent war together on the sacred soil where the first 
pitched battle in the war for independence took place, and that 
this should be followed by a celebration at Yorktown, Virginia, 
in 1 88 1. Mayor Cobb, whose grandfather was on General 
Washington's staff at the battle of Yorktown, favored the idea, 
and secured a letter from George Bancroft, the historian, on 
the subject, containing a copy of the act passed by Congress a 
few days after the battle. This letter the mayor sent with his 
message to councils. The mayor's message was approved, and 
the Centennial Anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill was 
properly celebrated, and proved to be a timely and worthy 
introduction of 1876. 

Mayor Cobb, in his communication to Councils, called their 
attention to the fact that the monument projected for the field 
of Yorktown had never been erected. The subject was brought 
to the attention of Congress by the Massachusetts representa- 
tives, and the monument was erected. It is one of the finest 
monuments in America. 

I had previously suggested that the thirteen original States 



62 REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 

should each have a building on the ground, in 1876, for the use 
and comfort of their citizens and descendants. The suggestion 
was approved, and New Jersey was the first State that erected a 
State building, and was also the first State to celebrate a State 
day. She was followed by nearly all of the thirteen original 
States, and some of the States since admitted into the family 
•also erected State buildings. 

The bank officers and bankers of the United States organ- 
ized an association to aid in securing the financial success of 
the Exposition. The meeting was held on the 26th of June, 
1875, in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, consisting of three 
hundred and thirty-three bank officials or representatives, to 
see the progress made and to ascertain what was essential to 
make the work a success. On the return home of the New 
York bank presidents, the clearing house of that city appointed 
a committee to take the subject in hand, of which B. B. Sher- 
man was made chairman, and the subject, through that com- 
mittee, was presented to the banks of the United States, which 
were responding quite liberally, when the financial crisis fell 
upon the country, and the contributions to the Centennial stock 
ceased. 

I have special reasons for feeling grateful to Benjamin B. 
Sherman, William A. Camp, who was the manager of the New 
York clearing house^ George S. Coe, J. D. Vermilye, Henry 
Hall, John S. Baker, and C. L. Jordan In addition to their 
contributions to the stock of the Centennial, they organized 
and erected a building for the use of the bank officials and 
their families during the Centennial. It was here that the for- 
eign bank presidents met the presidents of the American banks. 
Through their intercourse with the American bankers and the 
people of this country they found that, through our resources 
and productions, we were abundantly able to pay our national 
debt; and through their intercourse with bank officials of this 
country they were satisfied that America would pay every 
dollar that she owed. This fact, as impressed upon foreign 




B. B. SHERMAN, PRESIDENT MECHANICS' NATIONAL BANK, NEW JERSEY, 1876. 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 65 

bankers, gave an assurance of the value of the United States 
bonds, which they expressed, on their return, to their cap- 
itahsts, and the price of bonds commenced to go up at 
once. There was no building occupied on the grounds that 
did more to build up American credit than the bankers' 
building. 

Through Mr. Sherman's kindness and hearty co-operation, 
I secured the support of the New York Produce Exchange. 
This Exchange invited the various commercial organizations 
throughout the United States to join them on a day when the 
commercial interests of the country could be present and par- 
ticipate in the celebration. This was carried out, and the num- 
ber present on Commercial Day was one hundred and fifteen 
thousand. Mr. Sherman's kindness and assistance to me insep- 
arably connect his name with the work which I was employed 
in at the time. As a Christian and patriotic gentleman, to 
whom I was devotedly attached, I take the Ifberty, as he is no 
longer in the walks of life, to insert his picture in connection 
with these reminiscences, which call events both sad and 
pleasant to memory. 

The Clearing-House committee tendered to the Hon. John 
Welsh a dinner at Delmonico's. The invitation to Mr. Welsh 
was signed by one hundred of the most prominent citizens of 
the city of New York, and was given for the purpose of ex- 
pressing their appreciation of Mr. Welsh's valuable services to 
his country, and to have a resolution passed calling upon Con- 
gress to make the sum loaned by Congress to the Exposition 
an appropriation instead of a loan, to be repaid to the States, 
cities, and individuals who had contributed to the stock of the 
Centennial Commission. 

Nothing in the conduct of the Centennial Celebration of 
American Independence in 1876 was more striking than the 
fact that with all the vast crowds that assembled there not a 
single accident occurred. The careful accommodation of the 
unprecedented crouds was due to the intelligent and energetic 

5 



56 REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 

efforts of Mr. D. M. Boyd, the General Passenger Agent of the 
Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Under his direction special 
care and attention were given to the aged and afflicted who 
desired to be present on their respective State days out of 
respect to their ancestors who were connected with the event 
being celebrated. Many of these visitors were residents of the 
New England States whose ancestors had taken part in the 
Revolutionary War. 

A special gate was assigned in the station at Jersey City 
where such persons could be passed in and seated before the 
gates were opened to the crowds. On their arrival and departure 
from Philadelphia they were carefully cared for on each State 
day. I was in tlie Jersey City station every morning at six 
o'clock when the steamers landed their passengers. On Massa- 
chusetts day I found a gentleman from Marble Head, Massa- 
chusetts, in his ninety-second year; his wife was with him in 
her ninetieth year ; they had been man and wife for over sixty- 
eight years. The father of each was in the battle of Bunker 
Hill 

Remembering Mr. Boyd's kind and courteous assistance to 
me, I hold his memory ever kindly with my remembrances of 
the past. He and his assistant at the Jersey City Station both 
died soon after the closing of the celebration. The officials of 
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company all seemed to unite in the 
sentiment of future peace and prosperity of the people, and 
were ready to co-operate and accomplish that object and 
purpose. 

My kinsman, Balie Peyton, of Tennessee, who spent some 
weeks with me during the celebration, said, " Well Jesse, your 
efforts have permanently established the reunion of our States, 
and it will so pass into history." 

At the time of the close of the Centennial the Bankers' build- 
ing with its furniture was presented to me. The sale of the 
building, with the small surplus presented to me by the 
committee, did not quite cover the expenses I was put to in 




D. M. BOYD, GENERAL PASSENGER AGENT PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY, 1876. 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. ^g 

working up the State days. The furniture I still retain, ex- 
cept a few pieces which I presented to my good friends John 
Welsh and George Philler, as souvenirs of that great cele- 
bration. 

The Singer Manufacturing Company also, at my suggestion, 
erected a large building on the ground for its exhibits and 
the comfort of the lady visitors. This company at the close 
of the Exposition presented me with a handsome gold watch, 
with a picture of the building engraved on the case. 

During the Autumn of 1875 it was difficult to secure the 
means necessary to carry on and complete the work. Mr. 
Welsh was much worried over the outlook ; it was indeed 
gloomy. I proposed that I visit New York and see what could 
be done. He consented, and I secured Gilmore's garden for 
a meeting. The cost of the building and the band for the 
evening was one thousand dollars. The Centennial Board of 
Finance did not care to assume that risk. I thereupon sold to 
the banks and insurance companies of New York two thousand 
tickets at fifty cents each, which paid for the use of the building 
and the band. Samuel J. Tilden, then governor of New York, 
agreed to act as chairman and introduce Mr. Welsh and Gov- 
ernor Hawley, who were to make addresses. There were 
about eight thousand persons present. Governor Tilden, owing 
to illness, was unable to preside. The meeting did much to 
arouse interest in the Exposition. 

The financial condition of the Southern States was such that 
they could not contribute means to the Centennial or erect 
buildings for the use and benefit of their citizens. At the close 
of the Exhibition I visited the State of New York, stated to 
the capitalists the unfortunate condition of the people of the 
South in not being able to pay the interest on their State debts, 
and advised that a meeting should be held by capitalists to 
ascertain if it were not possible for the States and their bond- 
holders to get together and compromise on terms acceptable 
to the States and bondholders, and settle their obligations. 



70 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 



The subject was well received. The followinij-named gentle- 
man siened a call for the meeting: 



J\o. T. Agxew, 
Babcock Bros. «& Co., 
August Belmont & Co., 
Brown Bros. & Co., 
Wm. C. Bryant, 
Fred. Butterfield & Co., 
John J. Cisco & Son, 
H. B. Claflin & Co., 
Thomas Denny & Co., 
David Dows & Co., 
Drexel, Morgan & Co., 
Wm. M. Evarts, 
Wm. H. Hays, 
Wilson G. Hunt, 
M. K. Jessup, Baton & Co. 
E. S. Jaffray & Co., 
Robert Lenox Kennedy, 



James G. King's Sons, 
A. C. KiNGSLAND & Sons, 
KuHN, Loeb & Co., 
A. A. Lowe & Bros., 
Chas. J. Martin, 
Sam. M'Lean & Co., 
Morton, Bliss & Co., 

E. D. Morgan & Co., 
George Opdyke & Co., 
Phelps, Dodge & Co., 
Henry F. Spaulding, 
H. G. Stebbins & Son, 

J. & W. Seligman & Co., 
John A. Stewart,' 
Moses Taylor, 
L. Von Hoffman & Co., 

F. S. Winston. 



The meeting was held in the clearing house of the city of 
New York, over which William Cullen Bryant presided. 

A committee was appointed to confer with the bondholders 
and the States, and endeavor to have the matter satisfactorily 
adjusted. The committee consisted of the following gentle- 
men : George S. Coe, President of the American Exchange 
National Bank, New York ; J. D. Vermilye, President of the 
Merchant's National Bank, New York ; B. B. Sherman, Presi- 
dent of the Mechanic's National Bank, New York ; B. B. 
Comegys, Vice-President of the Philadelphia National Bank, 
Philadelphia ; Enoch Pratt, President of the National Farmers' 
and Planter's Bank, Baltimore. 

Mr. Coe, in his reference to the subject, .stated that it had its 
origin with me, during the Centennial, — looking to peace^ 
fraternity, and social relation among the people. 

I frequently remarked to Mr. Welsh, in looking over the 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 



71 



vast crowds present, that when the generation present and 
participating had passed away, the Centennial would soon be 
forgotten by the people, and that there ought to be a monu- 
ment erected on the site of the Exposition in respect to the 
memory of the signers of the Declaration of Independence 
and the members of the convention that framed our Constitu- 
tion. I suggested that such a monument should consist of 
the thirteen original States in line, each under an arch, fronting 
the rising sun. The central arch should be large and grand, 
containing a column on its top, upon which should stand a 
bronze statue of Christopher Columbus. There should be a 
large hall, covering the arches, in which there should be tablets 
bearing the autograph signatures of the signers of the Declara- 
tion of Independence and the members of the convention that 
framed the Constitution, and the date of the acceptance of the 
Constitution, in the order in which it was accepted by the 
original States ; the names of the first President elected under 
the Constitution, and of his Cabinet ; of the Congress that 
organized the government under the Constitution ; the date of 
admission of the first State into the Union, with the name of its 
first governor ; also of the second and third States ; the date of 
removing the Capital to Washington ; and further, tablets with 
the name of each State, the date of its admission, and its first 
governor, up to 1876 ; then the names of the officials and repre- 
sentatives of all nations present and participating in the close 
of the first century at that time ; then the continuance of the 
admission of States into the Union as above, leaving blank 
tablets for those to be admitted in the future, so that the history 
of the organization of the government might be preserved from 
its origin to the end of time. At the base of the column should 
stand a statue of Thomas Jefferson, holding the Declaration of 
Independence ; one of George Washington with the sword ; 
and one of Robert Morris, the eminent financier, holding the 
purse. At the north end of the monument should stand a statue 
of Benjamin Franklin ; at the south end, one of Patrick Henry. 



72 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 



Those are the statues that I should designate as being proper 
in ilkistrating the history of our country. Each of the States 
might have a statue over its arch, which I think should be a 
testimonial to those States, by the government of the United 
States. This plan, of course, was suggestive. The idea has 
since been endorsed by President Cleveland and the members 
of his Cabinet during his first administration, and by the gov- 
ernors of all the States and Territories. 

As an evidence of their good feeling towards the govern- 
ment of the United States, the foreign governments presented 
their exhibits to the United States, which are now in the 
Smithsonian Institution, in Washington. The exhibits have been 
estimated to be worth two millions and a half of dollars. 

In 1878 the Pennsylvania Railroad tendered a party of gen- 
tlemen from New York, representing banks and insurance 
companies, free transportation to Atlantic City. During their 
stay in that place they were the guests of the hotel proprietors. 
I was in charge of the party. While sitting on the porch of 
Congress Hall, the Philadelphia Centennial was mentioned, and 
its great benefit to the country referred to. One of the gentle- 
men said there ought to be a World's Fair in New York. 
Another one remarked, " We cannot get it up without the 
assistance of Colonel Peyton. Colonel, what do you think 
of it?" I said that ten years hence would bring to the atten- 
tion of the American people one of the most important events 
that occurred in the history of the country, — the inauguration 
of the first President of the United States and the beginning 
of constitutional government, — and that that event ought to be 
properly celebrated. They thought it premature, but I sug- 
gested that it might be well for them to inform the world that 
America would pre-empt that year for a World's Fair. 

A few days afterwards I was in New York, when a corre- 
spondent of the TribiDic interviewed me in reference to the 
subject, and the next day my views were published in full in 
that paper. At the request of my friends I had a meeting 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 



75 



called at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, on the evening that the Paris 
Exposition closed. Judge Hilton presided. A committee was 
appointed, of which he was made chairman, and thus the move- 
ment was started which ended in the Centennial of the Inaugu- 
ration of George Washington as President of the United States. 
Shortly after, a correspondent of the Chicago hiter-Occan called 
to see me, and stated that we had had one World's Fair in the 
East, and that. the next ought to be given in the West. I told 
him that the event to be celebrated could not be transferred 
from New York, and that that city was the only place where 
the celebration could properly be held I said to him that 
1892 would be the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery 
of this country by Columbus, and it would then be proper for 
St. Louis or Chicago to have a great World's Fair; that per- 
sons coming from foreign countries could then have an oppor- 
tunity of crossing from the Atlantic to the West, and see 
something of the country which Columbus had made known 
to Europe, and the use America was making of it. He pub- 
lished my views in his paper, and it was taken up by the St. 
Louis papers and the Oliio State Journal ; the latter paper 
thought the fair ought to be held in Columbus, Ohio, as that 
city bore the name of the discoverer of America. 

That was the introduction of what became the Chicago 
World's Fair. Being so far in advance of the time mentioned 
for the fair, in a few months the subject had been dropped, and 
was not taken up again for some years. 

In 1879, ^- W- -^^ Halladay, governor of Virginia, who was 
the Centennial Commissioner in 1876, desired my views on the 
subject of an appropriate centennial celebration of the surren- 
der of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown. I visited the battle-field, 
and was convinced that facilities could be furnished for a very 
complete celebration of the event by the army and navy of the 
United States, and ,by the State militia. I advised Governor 
Halladay to invite the governors of the thirteen original States 
to meet in the city of Philadelphia, where the first Congress 



76 



REMINISCENCES OF TBE FAST. 



met, whose action was ratified and confirmed upon the field of 
Yorktown. He thought it improper for him to invite the gov- 
ernors to meet outside of his own State. On my return to 
Philadelphia, I had the Carpenters' Company tender him the 
use of their Hall, the city the use of Independence Hall, and 
the governor the courtesy of the State, which were accepted, 
and the meeting was held on the 19th of October, 1880. 

Arrangements were made for the celebration. There being 
no funds at hand for the purpose, and the State of Virginia 
being burdened with debt, a citizen's committee was organized 
and money raised for the purpose. The celebration was a 
grand affair, and a handsome monument now marks the spot 
where the last scenes of the War for Independence took place. 

I have no cause to regret my connection with this celebra- 
tion. It furnished an opportunity for soldiers engaged in 
recent civil strife to meet on historic ground, sacred to the 
nation, and there renew their allegiance to a common country. 
It was not only a great military display, but led to peaceful and 
fraternal relations between all present. 

A handsome silver vase, manufactured by Tiffany & Co., of 
New York, to be presented to the regiment or battalion partici- 
pating that exhibited the best order, drill, and camp discipline, 
was, by the committee appointed by General Winfield S. Han- 
cock, presented to the New Jersey battalion. The vase cost 
one thousand dollars, and was ordered by the association. 

The death of President Garfield threw a damper upon the 
enterprise, and left the association bankrupt. I called on Mr. 
Charles Tiffany, stated to him the condition of affairs, and told 
him that, as it was at my suggestion the vase had been made, 
I felt bound to see the bill paid. He asked me who was to pay 
it, and I told him that I would have to do so. Mr. Tiffany 
replied, "No, sir; Tiffany & Co. can better afford to lose it 
than you can. It is now settled, on one condition, and that is, 
that when you come to New York you will always call and see 
me." 




TIFFANY VASE. 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. yg 

I was once more glad that Cornwallis had been whipped. 
I had begun to think that victory was on the wrong side for 
me, as I had assumed a great amount of trouble and hard 
work without, previous to that time, any apparent appreciation. 

My attention was called to the World's Fair to be' held in 
the city of New Orleans in 1884, with a request that I call'the 
attention of the Eastern manufacturers to the importance of 
their being represented. Meetings were held in the mayor's 
office, in Philadelphia ; in the governor's office, Trenton, New 
Jersey ; and in the city of Baltimore. 

As the Centennial Exposition of 1876 had been largely 
patronized by the South, I could not refuse to take an active 
part in their exposition. I spent four months in New Orleans, 
representing a number of Philadelphia manufacturers. The 
great day of the exhibition was designated " Philadelphia 
Day," in recognition of the " City of Brotherly Love" in allow- 
ing the Old Liberty Bell to be sent South. The meeting, over 
which I presided, numbered about twenty thou.sand people. 
I was introduced as bearing the name of the first president of 
the First Congress that assembled in Carpenters' Hall, Phila- 
delphia, to whose acts the old bell responded. The old bell 
rested under a beautiful canopy. The frame work was made 
by an Englishman, and painted by my friend, John Lucas, of 
Philadelphia, another Englishman. The canvas for the awning 
was also presented by an Englishman, and the awning was 
made by the ladies present. The bell was placed near th-e 
Banker's Pavilion, under two large oak-trees. 

The Banker's Pavilion was my head-quarters, and was visited 
by persons from all parts of the United States. The Legisla- 
ture of Tennessee was entertained there in a body, and photo- 
graphed. The Legislature of Nebraska, the officials of Mexico, 
and the noted Mexican Band were also entertained there, and 
photographed in connection with the bell. After this, the old 
lady was no longer the bell of Philadelphia, but the belle of 
the nation. To the representatives of Mexico I am indebted 



8o REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 

for many acts of kindness. Some of them had been present in 
Philadelphia in 1876. The band, when not engaged, was 
placed at my service. 

During a visit to Washington, in May, 1886, I was impressed 
with the fact that the Forty-ninth Congress, then in session, 
would close the first century of constitutional government. 
The recent Anarchist outrages in Chicago and other parts of 
the country convinced me of the importance of a recognition 
by the people that our government had been subject to the test 
of one hundred years, and that we, as citizens, should celebrate 
the one hundredth anniversary of the framing of the Federal 
Constitution. 

I submitted my views to Hon. W. R. Cox, who was then 
representing the Raleigh District of North Carolina in Con- 
gress. He thought the suggestion wise and proper, and his 
letter, addressed to me, I submitted to eleven members of 
Congress present from the thirteen original States. Each of 
them endorsed Mr. Cox's letter. 

The Legislature of New Jersey met for a {c\\ days to close 
the business of the session. I went to Trenton, called the 
attention of senators and members of the House to the impor- 
tance of the event, and what I deemed the duty of the States 
in reference to an appropriate celebration on the se\'enteenth 
day of September, 1887. A preamble and resolutions were 
prepared, inviting the governors of the thirteen original States 
to meet in the city of Philadelphia, where the States assembled 
that framed the Constitution. 

I called on the proprietors of the Philadelphia hotels and in- 
formed them that New Jersey had invited the governors to 
meet in that city, but had made no provisions for taking care 
of them as the guests of the State. They at once proposed to" 
take them as their guests, and each wrote a letter to governors 
inviting them and such officials as might accompany them, to 
be their guests during their sojourn in the city. 

The governors met in Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia, on the 




MONUMENT AT YORKTOWN, VIRGINIA. 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. g-- 

17th day of September, 1886, the ninety-ninth anniversary of 
the adoption of the Constitution. The original States were all 
represented, with one or two exceptions. An address of wel- 
come was delivered by Hampton L. Carson, Esq., of Phila- 
delphia, which is as follows: 

" Governors and Representatives 
OF THE Colonial States : 

"The agreeable duty has been assigned to me of bidding you 
welcome in the name of the citizens of Philadelphia. You 
have been summoned to participate in the preparations now 
being made for the proper celebration of the centennial anni- 
versary of the most important event in our history as a people, 
of the sublimest political achievement in the annals of mankind. 

"With uncovered heads and with reverent feet you entered, a 
few moments ago, the sacred Hall of Independence, and now, 
in the spirit of worshippers before a shrine, you stand upon 
the very spot where the First Continental Congress protested 
against the tyranny of the British crown. What a contrast 
between that day and this ! Then a handful of feeble but 
heroic men, hemmed in upon a narrow strip of land between 
the ocean and the wilderness, without money or friends, of 
divided strength and distracted councils, dared all the terrors 
of destructive war in defence of life, liberty, and the pursuit 
of happiness. To-day their children's children, gathered from 
the broad expanse of a continent as boundless as the sea, rich, 
happy, strong, and prosperous, constitute the most powerful 
and respected nation of the earth. Such are the results of a 
century of freedom. Such are the splendid trophies of local 
self-government. Such are the rich fruits of our Federal Union. 
Such are the blessings of man's conquest of himself 

We have met together, not for the purpose of commemo- 
rating the casting of the tea into Boston harbor, nor of recalling 
that day when the ' embattled farmers fired the shot heard 
round the world,' not to celebrate the Declaration of our In- 



84 REMINISCENCES OF THE EAST. 

dependence, nor yet to live anew in that glad hour of victory 
and exultation, when after six years of arduous struggle the 
sword of Cornwallis was surrendered to Washington, but to 
prepare to perpetuate by appropriate ceremonies that far grander 
and more memorable day when thirteen sovereign States, cast- 
ing aside their conflicting interests, their rivalries and jealous 
fears, entered into a close and lasting Union, and gave to the 
world the Federal Constitution, which the greatest living states- 
man of England has pronounced to be ' the most wonderful 
work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose 
of man.' 

" This is the occasion of our meeting, and it seems proper to 
review briefly some of the events which rendered a Union of 
the States both possible and necessary. Prior to the Declara- 
tion of Independence none of the colonies were, or pretended 
to be, sovereign States in the sense in which we now use the term. 
They were colonies, chartered, provincial or proprietary, depend- 
ent in a measure upon the crown, although exercising many of 
the powers of self-government. But when, bending beneath the 
weight of oppression, they threw off their allegiance and pro- 
claimed their independence, they became, * and of right were 
free and independent States.' Without stopping to define, or 
to closely scrutinize the exact nature of their powers, the 
Congress of 1775 assumed at once some of the highest functions 
of sovereignty. They promptly took measures for national 
defence and resistance, equipped an army and navy, raised 
money, emitted bills of credit, contracted debts upon national 
account, established a national post-office and prize courts for 
the condemnation of prizes with appellate jurisdiction to them- 
selves. In 1776 they took bolder steps and exercised powers 
which were revolutionary. The validity of these acts was 
never doubted nor denied by the people. In 1777 the celebrated 
Articles of ' Confederation and Perpetual Union' were intro- 
duced, but they were not ratified, so as to become obligatory 
upon all the States, until March, 1781, Shortly after this time, 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 85 

the war was practically at an end, and then it was perceived 
that the principal powers related to operations of war and were 
unsuited to times of peace. Congress could send out and 
receive ambassadors, but they could not command the means 
to pay their ministers at a foreign court. They could contract 
alliances, but could not raise money or men to give them vigor. 
They could enter into treaties, but every State might break 
them with impunity. They could institute courts for piracies 
and felonies on the high seas, but they had no means to pay 
either judges or jurors. They could contract debts, but could 
not pay a dollar. They could pledge the public faith, but could 
not redeem it. They could not raise any revenue, levy any 
tax, enforce any law, secure any right, or regulate an)^ trade. 
In short, they could declare everything, but do nothing. 
Congress was at the mercy of the States. They had no 
resource except persuasion. There was an utter want of coer- 
cive authority to carry into effect a constitutional decree. That 
power to enforce obedience — which jurists call the sanction of 
a law — was lackmg. The disobedient could not be punished. 
No fines could be imposed, no imprisonment be inflicted, no 
privileges be divested, no forfeitures be declared, no refractory 
officers be suspended. The only way in which money could 
be raised was by requisitions upon the States, and compliance 
depended upon the patriotism and good nature of the Legisla- 
tures. Obedience was sometimes tardy, resistance was some- 
times defiant. Without an executive, without a judiciary, with- 
out a balance wheel to control the violence of passion, the 
government, if such it could be called, was misshapen, palsied, 
and powerless. Every measure, however just, required the 
assent of nine States, and however urgent the necessity for im- 
mediate action, involved the fatal delay of debate in thirteen 
separate Legislatures. The result was as might have been ex- 
pected. The union 'was but a rope of sand.' The public 
debt amounted to forty-two millions of dollars, eight millions 
of which were due to France and Holland, our generous allies 



85 REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 

at the darkest liour of the struggle, and there was no power 
anywhere to redeem the national honor. Thousands of our 
best citizens, whose patriotism and bravery had saved the 
country, held the dishonored bills of the Continental Congress. 
The army, clamoring for pay, mutinous and sullen, threatened 
to open the flood-gates of civil discord and deluge the land 
with blood. The navy, which, under Paul Jones, had proudly 
swept the seas, now cowered beneath the bold swoop of the 
corsairs of Algiers. Trade languished, commerce was dead. 
Rebellion reared its horrid crest in Massachusetts, and the 
Congress, which had braved King, Lords, and Commons, fled 
from Philadelphia to Princeton, when insulted by a squad of 
mutineers commanded by sergeants. 

" At this day it is impossible to fathom the depth of that dark 
pit of degradation into which this nation had been cast at the 
close of the Revolution. It seemed as if all the blood, the 
treasure, the sacrifices, and the anguish of those eight years of 
war had been spent in vain. How empty was the boast that 
this was the ' People's Government !' The fruits at which they 
grasped had turned like Dead Sea apples into ashes at the 
touch, — the vision which had lured them onward now mocked 
them in their misery. Ruin, despair, civil paralysis, bankruptcy, 
disunion, discord, dishonor ! The cynic might have sneered : 
' Far better would it have been to have paid that paltry tea 
tax, and argued rather than have thrashed the British ministry 
into acquiescence with our views concerning taxation and rep- 
resentation.' But God stooti * within the shadow, keeping 
watch above his own,' and out of chaos evolved our beautiful 
political planetary system, where each State, while moving in 
an orbit of its own, revolves with the music of the Union 
about the Federal Constitution as a central sun. Then order 
came and peace to troubled hearts. Prosperity smiled upon us 
and benignant Heaven showered down her choicest gifts. Not 
Rome in her two thousand years of conquest, nor England in 
her marvellous career, had ever witnessed or dreamed of the 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 



87 



astounding growth and vigor which we have displa3'ed in one 
hundred years of constitutional government. Not after the 
models of Achaian leagues, nor of Italian republics, nor of 
Swiss cantons, nor of the Dutch commonwealth, nor even of 
Constitutional monarchy did our fathers build ; but after a 
style of architecture all their own, inspired by faith in the 
great Giver of All Good and upheld by an unfaltering trust in 
man, his powers, his capacities, his rights, his duties, and his 
immortal destiny, they laid the deep foundation and reared the 
swelling dome of the people's government, which, surviving 
the shock of foreign war and civil strife and furious debate, has 
emerged from every storm stronger, purer, sanctified. 

" In the presence of these hallowed memories, in this sacred 
hall, let us invoke the shades of our immortal sires, and like 
them, forgetting and forgiving all real or fancied wrongs, and 
rising above all sectional prejudice and jealousy, in a spirit of 
fraternal affection and regard, renew our vows of fealty to the 
Constitution, and by a fitting celebration of that great day when 
it became the organic law of our beloyed republic, proclaim to 
our children that for them as for us that Constitution is the ark 
of the covenant, — the bond, the pledge, and the source of 
Union. Thus, standing in this temple of liberty, with our hands 
upon the horns of the altar and our hearts quickened with 
celestial fire, we can go forth without fear to meet the responsi- 
bilities of the century to come." 

At the conclusion of Mr. Carson's speech, an adjournment 
was had to Independence Hall, where arrangements were made 
by the governors for a proper celebration of that important 
event in the history of our country. 

Ex-Governor Biggs, of Delaware, whilst participating in the 
Constitutional celebration in 1887, asked me what would be 
the next centennial. The question was asked in the presence 
of several governors. I told him that the centennial of the 
inauguration of President Washington, which would take place 



88 REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 

on the 30th day of April, 1889, would close the series of 
important events in the early history of our country; that the 
organization of the United States was the outcome of the 
events that had been celebrated, and that the centennial anni- 
versary of the formation of the government ought to be 
properly recognized. Those present concurred in this, and it 
was suggested that I ascertain how the people of New York 
felt on the subject. I went to New York, and spent four weeks 
there. I prepared a call for a meeting, to which I secured the 
signatures of over one hundred of the most prominent citizens 
of the city. The meeting was held at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, 
on the evening of the loth day of November, 1887, Mayor 
A. S. Hewitt presiding. Hampton L. Carson, of Philadelphia, 
was present, and made one of his very eloquent speeches in 
support of the suggested celebration, which impressed all 
present. An association was organized, and committees were 
appointed to carry out the work. The death of my good 
friend, A. S. Sullivan however, apparently severed my connec- 
tion with this celebration. 

I have now referred to my efforts to preserve peaceably the 
Union through the organization of the Constitutional Union 
Party. Failing to accomplish that, I gave my time and services 
to my country to help it put down the Rebellion. I then 
devoted myself to bringing the people of the country together 
in a proper celebration of the important events in our history. 

The buildings, which are illustrated by the accompanying 
plates, through events make the city of Philadelphia the his- 
toric city of the New World. 

The hall of the Carpenters' Company is situated between 
Third and Fourth Streets, on the south side of Chestnut 
Street, and is approached by Carpenters' Court. It is \isited 
daily by strangers from all parts of the globe. The opposite 
corner is still the property of the Carpenters' Company. 

Portions of the furniture and chairs occupied by the first 
Congress of the Colonies, that assembled there on the 5th day 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 91 

of September, 1774, are still preserved as relics of that impor- 
tant event. 

The guests are received respectfully and kindly noticed by 
the janitress, who is entirely familiar with the history of the 
building, and takes great pleasure in explaining facts to vis- 
itors ; besides, each receives a handsome pamphlet, with the 
history of the building from its inception to the present. 

There is, perhaps, no organization in the city, through the 
acts of its members, that is more creditable to the city of 
Philadelphia than the Carpenters' Company. 

The movement looking to the celebration of these important 
events in history were all started in the hall of the Carpenters' 
Company. I have often been impressed with the spirit shown 
by those who assembled there to participate in the movement 
inaugurated. I feel very grateful, indeed, to the members of 
that Company for their uniform kindness and courtesy to me 
in initiating those events. 

The prayer and appeal to Divine Providence by the Rev. Jacob 
Duche, an Episcopal clergyman, was delivered on the opening 
of the first Congress. The prayer was extempore, eloquent, 
and impressive. It seemed to have been responded to at once 
through inspiration of union, faith, and courage. It brought 
tears to the eyes of all present. This event, with the speech 
of Patrick Henry, places the hall in the line of history that 
will accompany Sinai to the end of time. 

The seats were occupied by the governors of the thirteen 
original States when they met in the hall of the Carpenters' 
Company to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the sur- 
render of the British at Yorktown ; again, when they met to 
arrange the centennial anniversary of the promulgation of the 
Constitution. 

Christ Church is on Second Street, above Market, on a line 
with Church Street. Washington, Franklin, Robert Morris, 
Peyton Randolph, and many of the members of the first Con- 
gress worshipped there. The pews occupied by Washington, 



Q2 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 



Franklin, and Morris are still preserxed in the church. That 
church, with its history, furnishes the assurance of the Chris- 
tian faith through the observance and culture of the mem- 
bers of the first Congress that assembled in America, and 
is expressively recognized in the sentiment contained in the 
Declaration of Independence. The Christian faith of the mem- 
bers of that Congress is impressively identified with the origin 
and growth of our government. The members of the congre- 
gation of that time have all disappeared, and but a few of their 
descendants are left. The church now stands in a business 
part of the city. Its congregation is small, and its means are 
limited, so that it is not cared for in a way which its history 
sufficiently entitles it to. Every church in the United States, 
I think, ought to contribute a trifle every year to preserve and 
perpetuate this building as the source of the Christian senti- 
ment in the New World, \v^hich is reverenced and respected 
throughout the globe. 

The furniture in the church is the same as it was when the 
seats were occupied by the Father of Our Country and his 
eminent associates. The owners of the pews often extend with 
courtesy their use to distinguished visitors, who are impressed 
with the sacredness of the events in its history participated in 
by the founders of this now great republic. It seems that time 
adds to its attraction, and has a tendency to strengthen the in- 
herent and inalienable rights of the people as endowed by their 
Creator. 

Independence Hall is where these inherent and inalienable 
rights, as endowed by our Creator, were proclaimed to the world 
on the 4th day of July, 1776. Further remarks on the subject 
now are unnecessary ; the Centennial Exposition of 1 876 estab- 
lished its location and history in the minds of the people. 

The bell — that filled its mission, as expressed in words cast 
upon its surface — is now carefully cared for, and looked upon 
with reverence by the thousands of people who visit Indepen- 
dence Hall. In looking upon it the visitor seems to think that 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 93 

sentiment comes from all parts of the globe, as announced on 
the 4th of July, 1776. In announcing the funeral of Chief- 
Justice Marshall, the bell cracked, and left its place, as did the 
Chief Justice. Substitutes were supplied for each, yet the fulfil- 
ment of their missions are imperishably recorded in history. My 
work was connected with both the announcement of Liberty and 
the organization of the Supreme Court under the Constitution. 
Independence and promulgation of the Constitution were both 
appropriately celebrated on the centennial of their anniversaries. 
They both contributed to make the City of Brotherly Love the 
historic city of the New World. 

In addition to what I have said in regard to Independence 
Hall, I will state that the table upon which the Declaration of 
American Independence was signed, also our Constitution, is 
still in the Hall ; also the President's desk and the chairs that 
were occupied by the members of that Congress. The Hall, 
with its relics, is attracting the attention of the people of our 
country and all nations. The attendance daily averages over 
three hundred visitors who are non-residents of Philadelphia. 

The building which stood at the southwest corner of Seventh 
and Market Streets, where Thomas Jefferson, on the second 
floor of the corner of the building, slept and wrote the Declara- 
tion of Independence, has disappeared. The Penn National Bank 
now occupies the site, and has placed a bronze tablet, fronting 
Market Street, containing the history of the site where that 
instrument, now a feature in the world's history, was prepared. 
The stone, upon which the finger of Providence marked the 
ten commandments, has been lost sight of, but Sinai, the source 
from which those commandments come, is eternal ; so I may 
say of the site where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration 
of Independence, — the building is gone, but the site is there. 

Congress Hall, at the corner of Sixth and Chestnut Streets, 
is where George Washington was inaugurated for his second 
term, and where Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee became 
members of the family of States. In my judgment, no State 



94 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 



has been admitted to the Union that has been of more service 
to our country than the State of Kentucky, through its emi- 
nent representatives. 

In concUision, I will take the liberty of attaching some 
letters from prominent gentlemen, some of whom have known 
me from my infancy, and were in the past well known to the 
■public. The friendly relations between Governor Metcalfe's 
family and myself are now being preserved in the fourth genera- 
tion of their family by little Miss Jessie Peyton Metcalfe, who is 
now in her fourth year, and is recognized for her beauty and 
brilliancy at her time in life. 

In concluding these reminiscences, I desire to express my 
thanks and gratitude to the bank officials of New York and 
many of her prominent citizens ; also the same to the city of 
Philadelphia, and my many kind friends residing there, and 
especially to the State of New Jersey for her legislative en- 
dorsements of the celebrations that I have inaugurated. 

I desire again to emphasize my thought, that while the 
monuments erected at Bunker Hill and Yorktown fittingly 
mark the opening and the conclusion of the military service in 
the great struggle for national liberty, and while Carpenters' 
Hall and the Capitol Building at Washington are impressive 
emblems of the opening and the conclusion of the civil service 
in the same great cause, Congress has in no way recognized, 
by stone or building, the historic city where this great Republic 
had its origin, as selected by the representatives of the Colo- 
nies who, looking to the equal rights of coming generations, 
mutually pledged to each other their lives, their fortunes, and 
their sacred honors. It is my judgment that an appropriate 
and impressive monument, such as suggested on page 71, 
should be erected in Fairmount Park, in the city of Philadel- 
phia, where all nations officially participated in the celebration 
of American Independence, and should be formally unveiled 
on July 4, 1901, the first year of the twentieth century of the 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. 



95 



Christian Era, now recognized as the legal date of the world. 
The formal dedication of such a monument would be an occa- 
sion of world-wide interest, and I have no doubt that all 
nations would be represented and take part in the exercises. 

My motto : " One God, one Country, and one Destiny." 
May that destiny be the perfection of humanity on earth ! 



96 



REMINISCENCES OF THE FAST. 



ADDENDA. 

Forest Retreat, Kentucky, May, 1846. 

Dear Sir, — My frequent absence from home as usual must plead 
my apology for not having answered your letter of the 14th ultimo 
sooner. Allow me to say to you that I have not as yet received any 
letter of enquiry from the person suggested by you in regard to your 
standing and character before you left Kentucky. That my response to 
any such enquiries, if made, will be such as to gratify your feelings you 
may rest assured ; and that, too, under a full sense of all the high re- 
sponsibilities of the act. I would not for my own brother, or my best 
friend, deceive the father, or guardian, or the lady herself in such a case. 
But what could I say in truth, knowing you so intimately from your child- 
hood, unfavorable or disparaging ? On the contrary, I could not do 
otherwise than to declare to all concerned that I know of no young 
gentleman whose conduct throughout my knowledge of him, has been 
better, or more worthy of the highest commendation. It is, I know, but 
a commendable precaution on the part of a father or friend to make such 
encjuiries in cases in which information is needed, and it will afford me 
great pleasure to respond as above stated, being fully persuaded that the 
truth of the statement will be confirmed by time. 

I am still in the public service, and shall in a few days be off again 
for Frankfort, etc., etc. We have nothing new in Nicholas. 

Yours truly and respectfully, 

THOMAS METCALFE. 
Mr. Jesse E. Peyton. 



The following letter from the French Minister and the Mar- 
quis de Chambrun were in response to an invitation to accom- 
pany a committee to Yorktown, Va., to inspect semi-officially 
the monument and have it photographed. It was inspected and 
photographed, and the report and photographs sent to the de- 



REMINISCENCES OF THE PAST. ^n 

scendants of the French ofificers who commanded on the field 
at Yorktown. The pictures and report were very kindly re- 
ceived. 

Washington, D. C, June 13, 1880. 
Colonel Peyton, 

Care of Ebbitt House, Washington, D. C. : 

Dear Sir, — I was sorry to have missed your visit this morning, as I 
greatly desired to thank you in person for your very kind invitation to 
attend next week the unveiling of the monument at Yorktown. 

To my sincere regrets, however, I will be unable to avail myself of 
your invitation, as I have to go to New York on Monday. 

Please accept the renewed expression of my regrets and of my high 
appreciation of your kind thought. 

Respectfully yours, 

THEO. ROUSTAN, 

Minister of France. 



Colonel J. E. Peyton : 

Dear Sir, — It is a matter of great regret for me to be compelled to 
decline your kind invitation, and the pleasure to see once again, in your 
company, the fields of Yorktown, where my ancestor fought. 

It is urgent that I should leave this week for France. 

With many heartfelt thanks, I hope you will believe me very truly and 
gratefully yours, 

COMTE PIERRE LE CHAMBRUN. 

June I 5, 1890. 



Legation of the United States, London, July 8, 1878. 
My dear Colonel Peyton • 

I am glad to hear from you, because I may assume that you and your 
family are well, and next that I may congratulate you and Mrs. Peyton 
for the very just appreciation in which it seems you are held by our New 

7 



98 



REMINISCENCES OE THE PAST. 



York friends, whose delicate attention to Mrs. Peyton has given to you 
and to her a perpetual remembrance of their kind feeling towards you. 

It is really charming, and I have little doubt, like most generous 
actions, has given both to the donors and to the receivers a like pleasure. 

Your note of the 24th reached me a few minutes since, and I acknowl- 
edge it at once. For here, as in all other places in which you have ever 
known me, I have no spare moments, and should it be postponed until 
to-morrow it would be difficult to do that which gives me much pleasure 
to do now. I trust this will find you in health, with those around you 
whom you love, and the same kind feehngs welling up in your heart 
which give to hfe its zest and to the future its joy and hopes. 

Hurriedly, but sincerely, 

JNO. WELSH. 



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